Our world is made up of different cultures, traditions, and rituals, so people have different behaviors and personality traits and it’s normal to act differently in certain situations. In fact, being unique in our own way is what makes our world that beautiful and special. No matter what culture you are born in or join, other communities should understand that we have different perspectives on life and that some customs really mean something for individuals in certain societies.

That being said, most of us know about two ways of saying goodbye to the dead, namely cremation and burial. For those who don’t know what cremation is: it is a method of disposing of a dead person’s body by burning it to ashes (combustion/ incineration). It often happens after the funeral ceremony.

However, in some cases, people choose one of these two ways before they die, so this is a personal decision that their relatives and families should respect. If they could not express their preference before leaving the world of the living, then the family decides for them. In some cultures, depending on their traditions and rituals, they can’t express their decision beforehand, so they have to follow certain cultural ‘rules’.

Metaphorically speaking, let’s dig a little deeper into these traditions and find out other funeral rituals from around the world. We warn you that some of them are extremely bizarre. Read on for more!

Death beads

• Turn the dead’s ashes into colorful beads
• Where: South Korea

Colorful beads may be a fashion item in some countries, but in South Korea, these beads are made from the remains of the dead. To be more specific, they turn the ashes of their relatives into blue-green, pink or black beads. Of course, your relatives can’t be worn as a bracelet, but they are kept in decorative glass containers.

Endocannibalism

• Eating the dead
• Where: the Melanesians of Papua New Guinea and the Wari people of Brazil

For the Melanesians of Papua New Guinea and the Wari people of Brazil, endocannibalism was an act of compassion, veneration, and mourning for the dead and their families, so they practiced this method by eating the roasted remains of the dead.

According to experts, endocannibalism was practiced as a sign of veneration of the dead and people thought that they would extract the deceased’s wisdom by doing so. In this sense, the Fore peoples of Papua New Guinea were allowed to eat certain body parts of the deceased.

The Wari people of Brazil practiced endocannibalism because they believed that in this way they can transform the corpses of their relatives into spirits.

Famadihana

• The turning of the bones
• Where: the Malagasy people in Madagascar

Another bizarre funeral ritual is Famadihana, also known as ‘the turning of the bones’, and was practiced among the Malagasy people in Madagascar. This type of ceremony takes place every seven years and involves exhuming the bodies of their relatives, rewrapping them in new cloth with their names on it because this way they can be remembered.

Then they take the ritual to the next level and dance with the wrapped corpses over their heads, tell stories and spray with wine due to the powerful odor from decomposition. In other words, they celebrate the life lived by the deceased person.

According to a Malagasy man who talked for BBC, “it’s important because it’s our way of respecting the dead. It is also a chance for the whole family, from across the country, to come together.”

Fantasy coffins

• Buried in decorative coffins symbolizing the dead persons’ professions
• Where: Ghana

The people of Ghana are really creative when it comes to the dead’s coffin, so they prefer decorative caskets that represent the profession of the deceased. These interesting items are not only beautifully carved and colorful coffins, but they are also considered real works of art, being displayed in various exhibitions from around the world.

However, they practice this type of funeral ritual because they believe in the afterlife. They think that the deceased will live the same in the next world, so they should be prepared for that. Individuals also believe that they will influence young people to opt for important careers, such as doctors and lawyers.

Sky burial

• Being decomposed by wild birds
• Where: Tibet, Chinese provinces and autonomous regions of Qinghai, Sichuan, as well as in Mongolia, Bhutan and regions of India, such as Sikkim and Zanskar.

The sky burial is a funeral ritual that involves leaving the body of the dead on a mountain top in order to decompose and eaten by scavenging animals and wild birds. This ritual was practiced by Vajrayana Buddhists who believed in the transmigration of spirits and see the corpses as empty vessels. This Vajrayana Buddhist tradition occurred mainly because in some regions of Tibet and Qinghai, the soil is too hard to dig and access to combustible for incineration was almost non-existent.

The physical representation of emotional pain

• Finger amputation as part of the grieving process
• Where: the Dani tribe in Papua New Guinea

Of course, when you lose a loved one, you experience emotional suffering and pain, but for the Dani people of Papua New Guinea, physical pain should be a representation of emotional pain as well.

That being said, they had to cut off the top of their fingers every time a loved one died. This funeral ritual was mostly practiced by women, so they had to amputate their fingertips when their child or other family member died.

They adopted this ritual not only as a physical representation of emotional pain and a part of the grieving process, but also to drive away the spirits. However, this tradition is now banned.

Jazz funeral

• Funeral with music
• Where: New Orleans, Louisiana

When someone dies in New Orleans, Louisiana, their relatives should bury them accompanied by a brass band. The organizers of the funeral ceremony were responsible for hiring such a band. When a high-ranking person died in the community, various musicians volunteered to support the ceremony.

They start by playing slow and somber pieces, such as “Nearer My God to Thee”, then spirituals songs, such as “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” and continue with upbeat tunes like “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Didn’t He Ramble”.

Tower of Silence

• Funeral with vultures
• Where: Zoroastrian culture (one of the world’s oldest continuously practiced religions)

Tower of Silence or dakhma is a funeral ritual formed by Zoroastrians, which involves washing the body of the dead with bull urine and then leaving it in the tower of silence where it will be devoured by vultures. The main idea of this funeral ritual is to avoid contact with Earth and Fire – because these elements are considered sacred in this culture.